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Preprint
This is the submitted version of a paper presented at Nordic Working Life Conference, 10-12 June in Aalborg (Denmark)..
Citation for the original published paper:
Bergman Bruhn, Å. (2020)
Attractive and sustainable work in the equine sector – an explorative study in riding schools and trotting stables in Sweden
In:
N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper.
Permanent link to this version:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-31910
Attractive and sustainable work in the equine sector – an explorative study in riding schools and trotting stables in Sweden
Background
There are limited number of studies focusing on the working environment in the equine industry.
However, it is relatively well known that there exist several shortcomings and challenges in the work environment. Creating attractive and sustainable jobs is important in many respects, not only for organizations' ability to recruit, retain and engage employees but also for maintaining employee health and well-being, regardless of profession and industry.
The attractive work model (Åteg et al., 2004) represents a holistic view of what makes a job
attractive and is based on promotion factors. The model contains statements around the categories working conditions, work content and work satisfaction and represents an overall picture about what makes work attractive and sustainable.
Aim
The aim of this study is to gain knowledge of how employees in the equine industry – including riding schools and trotting stables - experience their work environment and to identify what factors are most important for the work to be considered attractive, healthy and sustainable over time.
Method
The abstract should be seen as a draft of a licentiate thesis in work science and is based on the preliminary results from a quantitative and a qualitative study.
Based on the attractive work model, a questionnaire has been designed which has been used in the quantitative study. In total, 150 employees at 30 randomly selected riding schools and trotting stables answered the questionnaire and the data was analyzed descriptively.
The qualitative study is based on data collected through 21 individual semi-structured interviews with employers (n=17) and managers (n=4) in two riding schools and two trotting stables in Sweden.
The interview guide is based on the categories in the model Attractive work. A thematic analysis was carried out in several steps.
Results
The preliminary results show that the employees considered work as one of the most important things in life and that their current job is relatively attractive. The results also indicate that factors such as loyalty, good relationships, a functioning social interaction, stimulating and challenging work tasks, inclusive leadership, feel sought, needed and important, being familiar with the work tasks and experiencing a sense of coherence are considered as most important for the work to be perceived as attractive. In addition, the results show that the work seems to highly be characterized by self- realization and quality of life as well as meaningfulness and passion and that those factors both can promote health as well as cause illness in the workplace.
Key words
Work environment, attractive work, sustainable work, promoting factors, equine industry
